kubernetesstoragePractitioner

Kubernetes v1.36: Unlocking the Power of Volume Group Snapshots

5 min read Kubernetes BlogMay 8, 2026Reviewed for accuracy

Practitioner — Hands-on experience recommended

In the fast-paced world of cloud-native applications, data management is crucial. Kubernetes v1.36 addresses this need by promoting Volume Group Snapshots to General Availability (GA). This feature allows you to create snapshots for multiple persistent volume claims (PVCs) in one go, streamlining your backup strategy and ensuring data consistency across your applications.

Volume Group Snapshots are created by users or automation to request snapshots for a group of PVCs. The snapshot controller dynamically generates VolumeGroupSnapshotContent, which contains vital information about the created group snapshot. The process relies on a set of extension APIs that utilize label selectors to group PVCs for snapshotting. For instance, you can label your PVCs with a common identifier, such as group=myGroup, to facilitate this grouping. The configuration parameters include volumeGroupSnapshotClassName, which specifies the class to use for creating the snapshot, and the driver information that indicates the storage driver in use.

In production, ensure you are using a CSI volume driver, as this feature is specifically supported for those. Remember to define your VolumeGroupSnapshotClass properly, including the deletion policy, to avoid unexpected data loss. As this feature is now GA, you can confidently implement it in your workflows, but always keep an eye on the specifics of your storage solutions and their compatibility with Kubernetes.

Key takeaways

→Leverage Volume Group Snapshots to manage multiple PVCs efficiently.
→Use label selectors to group PVCs for snapshotting.
→Define your VolumeGroupSnapshotClass with the appropriate driver and deletion policy.
→Ensure compatibility with CSI volume drivers for proper functionality.
→Utilize the snapshot controller for dynamic creation of VolumeGroupSnapshotContent.

Why it matters

This feature significantly reduces the complexity of managing backups for applications with multiple persistent volumes, enhancing data reliability and recovery times in production environments.

Code examples

shell

% kubectl label pvc pvc-0
group=myGroup
persistentvolumeclaim/pvc-0 labeled

YAML

1apiVersion: groupsnapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
2kind: VolumeGroupSnapshot
3metadata:
4  name: snapshot-daily-20260422
5  namespace: demo-namespace
6spec:
7  volumeGroupSnapshotClassName: csi-groupSnapclass
8  source:
9    selector:
10      matchLabels:
11        group: myGroup

YAML

1apiVersion: groupsnapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
2kind: VolumeGroupSnapshotClass
3metadata:
4  name: csi-groupSnapclass
5driver: example.csi.k8s.io
6deletionPolicy: Delete